Love's Labor Lost
by detective-giggles
Summary: Title borrowed from an ER episode. Just some randomness from me and my twin!  Let me know what you think?


A/N: I don't really know where this one came about... Just what my random mind comes up with! Medical stuff was, once again, written by my twin, 'cause I am not good at that icky stuff!!! Written for our family over at the FOX boards! WE LOVE YOU!

>

"Hey Em," Cheryl said softly. Emily tore her gaze from the busy streets of downtown L.A. and turned to her supervisor.

"Morning, Cheryl," she murmured, forcing a smile. She absently played with the straw in her drink.

"You're pretty lucky, getting a table in this place! You been here for a while?" Cheryl asked, gesturing around the busy Starbucks. The line for coffee stretched onto the street, and every table was occupied. This was Cheryl's favorite morning coffee stop. She knew the tables usually filled up before 7 am; it was just after 7:30 now.

"Yeah, actually. Wanna sit?" She offered politely, still playing with the straw. Cheryl wondered how long Emily had been there; her drink was nearly full-but all the ice had melted leaving a watery layer at the top.

"Not saving that chair for Matt?" Cheryl teased, taking the chair.

"He's with Frank," Emily laughed, "boys and their –their, uh, g-guns," Emily closed her eyes and took in a deep, yet shaky, breath.

"Emily, are you alright?" Cheryl asked, concerned.

"Ye-yeah… I-" Emily stopped and shook her head. She couldn't tell what was wrong, just that there was a pain. A very sharp pain, tearing through her abdomen. She let out a cry and doubled over holding her stomach.

"Emily?" Cheryl said firmly, placing a hand on the negotiator's shoulder.

"I'm fine," she mumbled weakly. She tried to stand but the pain was so agonizing that her legs would not support even her petite frame. She attempted to steady herself with small table, her legs gave out and she, along with the table, fell to the ground.

>

Emily slowly opened her eyes, trying to focus on the bright florescent lights above her. 'Where am I?' she thought to herself. As her surroundings started coming into focus she noticed the IV pole beside her and the abundance of tubes and wires leading from various machines towards her body. Then she remembered. The coffee that morning. Cheryl. The pain. Everything came rushing back all at once.

The hospital, she realized, Cheryl must have called an ambulance after she blacked out. A noise to her right brought her back to reality. The door to her room had opened and in walked a short, heavyset woman who looked to be in her early 50's.

"Ms. Lehman? I'm Dr. Hannah, your OB/GYN."

"What's wrong? Why was I in so much pain?" Emily asked, in a precarious voice.

"Ms. Lehman where you aware that your were pregnant?"

"Umm…I-yeah, I thought I was, but hadn't gotten it confirmed. Wh-what do mean 'were pregnant'?"

"I'm afraid that the cause of your pain this morning was an ectopic pregnancy."

"What does that mean?" Emily asked, still groggy from the pain medication coursing through her veins.

"The fertilized egg had implanted itself outside of your uterus, in the fallopian tube."

"No! I know what that is! What are you telling me- big picture?"

"I'm saying that in order to save your life, we had to terminate the pregnancy."

"You can't- who said that you could do that?"

"Because you were unconscious we had to get consent from your medical proxy, a…Matthew Flannery."

"Oh my god. He knows? You told him?"

"We had no choice. He had to sign the consent form in order for us to do the procedure." Emily paused in a stunned silence.

"Did-did you tell him?"

"Yes, ma'am," the doctor said softly, checking on Emily's IV.

"Um, did he- I mean, was he-"

Dr. Hannah smiled kindly, "Is he the father?"

"Yeah," Emily whispered.

"I figured as much. He looked rather surprised when I told him. Look, I wouldn't worry about it. He was so worried about you…"

"Okay… Thanks."

"Do you have any questions? Or I can recommend a counselor…"

"No! I'll be okay. But, um, about how many-uh- how far along was I?" Emily asked.

"About 9 weeks."

Emily nodded as she processed the information, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear. There are some very concerned people waiting outside for you, if you like to see them."

Emily nodded silently. Dr. Hannah exited the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

Confused, emotionally spent and alone, Emily turned on her side, pulled her knees to her chest, and relived the events of that day. A whirlwind of thoughts: 'I should have told him'…'He's going to hate me'…'I'm a terrible person'… ran through her head before she could stop them. Matt was running through her head. Could he ever forgive her for this? She couldn't take it anymore; the tears came.

She sobbed silently, only for a minute, she didn't want anyone to see her like that. "I'm fine," she said to no one.

The door opened, "Emily?" Cheryl said softly.

"Yeah… Hi… What-"

"Matt's on the phone with your parents. We knew you wouldn't want to be alone right now- He'll be in shortly," Cheryl explained. Emily nodded, silently thankful. The momentary reprieve was not helping her anxiety, however, with everything that had happened, she needed some time to think before dealing with Matt. Emily wasn't sure if she could face him just yet. "Did you know?" Cheryl wondered.

"Um… Yeah…"

"How long?" Cheryl asked gently.

"Oh, I dunno," Emily shrugged it off, not wanting to have that discussion.

"Emily…" Cheryl persisted.

"About 9 weeks. I've known for 5," Emily admitted.

"I'm sorry," Cheryl said.

"No, it's okay... I'm-fine."

"Okay, well, if you want to talk, I'm here," Cheryl offered as the door opened once more.

"Thanks," Emily muttered. Matt entered and stood by the door.

"Okay. I'll leave you two alone," Cheryl paused by the door and said something to Matt before leaving.

"Hey you," Matt said as he approached his partner.

"Hi," she responded in an almost inaudible tone, trying not to make eye contact.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm not sure how to feel. I should be asking you that question," Emily finally made eye contact with Matt, fighting back the tears that wanted to fall.

"I'm a little confused," he said finally, "I was surprised at first, but… I'll admit-I'm a little disappointed."

"Really? You would have been-okay with it?"

Matt was silent for a long moment, "Yeah. I would have been. Were you?"

Emily shook her head, "Sorta. No," she let out a nervous laugh, "I would have been a terrible mother," again, she adverted her gaze.

"Don't ever say that," Matt said softly, "You couldn't be terrible at anything-especially this. Em, I just- I don't get it! Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, frustrated at not getting the chance.

"I don't know. I was scared… scared that something might happen."

"Like what?"

"Like this! I didn't want you to have to go through this. I was going to wait until I got further along, just a few more weeks, but then… I don't expect you to forgive me."

"If the hospital hadn't told me what was going on, you would've had to deal with this on your own-and that's not fair to you- I helped get you here, I want to help you now."

Emily looked up, "You don't hate me?" she asked, finally allowing the tears to fall.

Matt carefully wiped a tear off her cheek, "Hate you? I could never hate you… You're too darn cute!" he grinned.

"Matt!!"

Matt's face turned serious and he grabbed her hand, sandwiching it between his, "Em, I mean it. I want you in my life. Every part of you- your successes and disappointments. I want to be a part of it. Promise me, you'll let me."

"Matt…"

"Promise me."

"I promise," Emily said softly.

"Good. You should try and get some sleep," Matt sat on the bed next to her and she leaned into him,

"Will you stay?" she asked.

"Of course," Matt grinned and wrapped his arms around Emily. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


End file.
